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Demanding a king

I was reading through First Samuel chapter 8 recently. This is where it talks about the leaders of the people of Israel going to Samuel and asking for a king to rule over them. Their reasoning was that Samuel was getting old and they wanted a replacement who would lead them in their fight against the neighbouring nations. To them it was obvious Samuel’s evil sons were not up to the task.

As I read through this passage four things really jumped out at me that I thought we could learn from. Let's have a look at this passage now...

Reading 1 Samuel 8

1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go back to his town."

Four things that were interesting about this passage

1. They compared themselves to other nations

The leaders wanted a strong king to lead them to victory. Instead of remembering they were God’s chosen people and He was their King and protector, they wanted an earthly king like those nations around them.

2. They didn’t trust that God could replace Samuel in His own time

The leaders tried to take things into their own hands and bring a solution to the problem of Samuel growing old and his sons being not suitable replacements. Perhaps they should have been patient and trusted God would provide the next leader for them.

3. They didn’t listen to God’s warning through Samuel

When Samuel heard of their request he went and prayed to God. God then told Samuel to warn the people what it would like under and earthly king. The result would be far worse than what they currently had. They didn’t listen and still wanted an earthly king.

4. God gave them Saul

God listened to their request and although He counselled against it, He gave them a king. As we see from history, Israel had 19 kings in the next 200 years. Some were good, many were bad and in fact left the kingdom divided and in a much weakened state.

How can we learn from this?

As I pondered in this for a while I wondered what we could learn from his some 3000 years later?

Look to God to be your King and leader, not a earthly king;
Trust Him that He can sort things out in His time frame;
When God warns you the consequences of a bad choice - listen; and
That God might answer you prayers, even though they are not what is best for you!